Message to former Shareholders

On 20th June 2018 Merck Sharpe and Dohme (Holdings) Pty Ltd (MSD) acquired 100% of the issued shares in Viralytics for $1.75 per share. If you have any enquiries in relation to your former holding, including the location of proceeds from the acquisition, please contact Link Market Services on 1300 554 474 (toll free within Australia 8:30am to 7:30pm – Monday to Friday) or by email – [email protected].

About Viralytics

Viralytics is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. (known as MSD outside the US and Canada). It is focused on the development and commercialisation of oncolytic immunotherapies that harness the power of specific viruses to preferentially infect and kill cancer cells. Our lead product candidate is CAVATAK®, a proprietary formulation of the common cold Coxsackievirus Type A21 (CVA21). CAVATAK is being evaluated in multiple clinical trials in various combinations and modes of administration against a range of cancer indications.

CAVATAK binds to specific receptor proteins highly expressed on a range of cancer cell types, and acts to destroy local as well as metastatic tumour cells. This is achieved through cell lysis and the potential generation of a specific immune response against the cancer cells.

CAVATAK-induced changes in the tumour microenvironment suggest a strong local and systemic anti-tumour response, particularly when used in combination with checkpoint inhibitors. These changes include an increase in immune cell infiltration and the up-regulation of immune-checkpoint molecules such as PD-L1.

Through these selective mechanisms of action, our therapies are designed to provide greater tolerability and efficacy, offering hope of an improved clinical benefit and quality of life to patients with cancers that are difficult to treat with current therapeutic approaches.